savant
noun
sa·vant
| \ sa-ˈvänt
, sə-, -ˈväⁿ; sə-ˈvant, ˈsa-vənt\
, sə-, -ˈväⁿ; sə-ˈvant, ˈsa-vənt\
Definition of savant
1
: a person of learning
especially
: one with detailed knowledge in some specialized field (as of science or literature)
2
: a person affected with a developmental disorder (such as autism or intellectual disability) who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field (such as mathematics or music)
especially
: autistic savant — see also savant syndrome
Keep scrolling for more
Examples of savant in a Sentence
a savant in the field of medical ethics
Recent Examples on the Web
There are examples of elite athletes, like tennis star Rafael Nadal and baseball hitting savant Ichiro Suzuki, who were pushed by relatives to play left-handed to gain a competitive advantage. — Sam Fortier, courant.com, "Why aren’t there any left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL?," 15 Aug. 2019 Dave Walker was his first pitching coach, an engineering savant from the oil business in eastern Kentucky who had a knack for unpacking the way things worked, including Verlander. — Tom Verducci, SI.com, "Walker Buehler Has the Arm, Arsenal and Attitude to Be a Star," 13 Aug. 2019 Williams is a former chess champion, a math wiz, a savant who downloads hundreds of game applications to his phone to pass the time. — Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, "Celtics first-round pick Grant Williams, a true student of life and basketball," 3 Aug. 2019 The Bayview native is a barbecue savant in his community, never less than a phone call or Facebook message away for anyone interested in hiring his pop-up, Big H BBQ, to cook ribs and pork chops. — Justin Phillips, SFChronicle.com, "‘This could mean everything:’ Food truck park opens in Bayview," 10 July 2019 Millions of viewers have embraced the drama about a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome who solves medical mysteries at a prestigious Bay Area hospital. — Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, "WME threatened to ‘blow up’ the ‘Good Doctor’ deal over packaging fees, showrunner says," 20 July 2019 The next several months have much in store for Curry, a 31-year-old basketball savant who, after 10 seasons, is already thinking hard about life after basketball. — New York Times, "Stephen Curry Finally Gets Some Rest (but Only From Basketball)," 21 June 2019 There’s an association with cluttered Victorian interiors and periwigged eighteenth-century savants, and perhaps there’s a fear of being likened to Jane Austen. — Christopher Tayler, Harper's magazine, "New Books," 24 June 2019 Never before have so many savants—economists, political scientists, diplomats, sociologists, and commentators alike—been quite so stunned by the turn of events. — Andrew Roberts, The New York Review of Books, "Ferdinand Mount," 6 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'savant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for savant
savant
noun
sa·vant
| \ sa-ˈvänt, sə-, -ˈvant
\
\
Medical Definition of savant
: a person affected with a developmental disorder (as autism or intellectual disability) who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field (as mathematics or music)
especially
: autistic savant — see savant syndrome